HngUpNDrv

I was out for a nice relaxing Sunday ride on my cat 700, when a roadie went by me snickering. Well that was not a good thing. I decided to let them go, then I thought why should I. So out comes the testosterone, and I was the one snickering in the end. I am sorry I embarassed you (not). But if you come in here to read this remember not all trikes are slow.

CbadRider

There's a reason why recumbents aren't allowed in races. I don't ride one, and I know better than to try and outpace one.

StephenH

I have passed recumbents on my cruiser bike, and been passed by them, and same with upright bikes. I've had people zip around me doing about 30. I've ridden my industrial trike at 8 mph and passed other people. Today in fact, I was out riding it, and passed a man and lady as they were going uphill into the wind. Fifteen minutes later, the guy comes zipping around me, followed shortly by the lady. So that guy's probably on some forum right now saying "A guy on one of those danged industrial trikes passed me, but I guess I showed him!" I've learned that passing people is an important boost to the ego if you're slow, but otherwise doesn't mean much of anything. I've learned there is a big difference between how fast somebody IS going and how fast they CAN go.

vik 

+1 - it isn't too hard to find people you can pass

megaman

Depends on the day. Last week I passed no body that I remember anyway. This week very few passed me. But it mainly depends on the type of riders that are out there. Serious roadies I'm usually left eathing their dust along with strong recreational riders. Most of the rest I pass.

gcottay

Sorry, man! I was my riding my DF and laughing to myself about an old joke when I passed you and it took me a while to notice you were trying to keep up. I hope I slowed down quickly that you didn't strain anything important. My favorite ride is a trike and I'd hate to spoil your fun.

No, I was not the DF rider in question. I'm just pointing out that people snicker for reasons of their own, passing another rider counts for nothing unless you both are racing, and trikes are enjoyed by a wide variety of people.

HngUpNDrv

WOW I didnt think I was going to get so much negative feed back. I just thought it was funny but I guess I was wrong.

Torque1st

How could anyone get mad at someone with a name like Hang Up and Drive...

shortboat

I must confess that I do this quite frequently (actually every time I get a chance). One of my favorite technique is to let them pass me and then slowly draw up next to them. They freak out when out of the corner of their eye they see that 20 x 1.5 inch front tire on my GRR creep up beside them and then suddenly I drop them out of sight. I have never talked with my prey afterwards but I can only imagine their disbelief that a 60+ year old overweight man on a over built touring recumbent just blew them away. Ok, I will say it. I am sorry(not)

Rollfast

I don't normally give an inch, even if I'm winded a bit, but the mail carrier is in such awesome shape and has such strong legs I keep telling her I wanna race and bring your husband so he can watch the dust in front of him

Actually, I've known her since she was a bartender and I have no doubt she could beat me racing. It would still be fun to have a racing partner...she's also one of the smarteest people I know arounf here and just a pretty nice lady (and she loves to see all the junk I buy, especially if if uses tubes)!

BlazingPedals

You guys have people catch you from behind? Strange. My mirror is only used for watching bikes getting smaller.

megaman

Only because they started out ahead of me in the first place.

aikigreg

Meh, I outclimbed every single Df in the A group this weekend, but the stereotype of bents being crap uphills is still true. It's all about the engine - mine's just better than some others.

juggleaddict

wait wait wait, they snickered at a cat 700??? they deserved it!!!

juggleaddict

wish i would have been there : )

StephenH

Hey, HngUp, I wasn't trying to be negative, just to put things in perspective. I'm slow, and enjoy passing anyone, even if it's grannies pulling trailers, but I've just learned not to make too much out of it, either. It's all good.

djwid

The joys of passing are sweet. Sure everyone gets passed and almost everyone can pass someone, but why not enjoy the nectar when it comes your way.

rhm

I enjoy passing people when I'm riding my folding bike with 16" wheels ... and I enjoy passing them when I'm riding my 55 year old three speed ... and I enjoy it when I'm on my recumbent, though it seems like shooting fish in a barrel. But when I'm on my tandem ... well, I would enjoy passing someone, but it doesn't happen much. I think it's the stoker's fault.

Echo Gypsy

While riding my vintage DF on the bike path in Columbus, Ohio I have found that the nicest people are the Bent riders where as the Carbon Fiber, spandex wannabees are the rudest, snobbish pricks who act as though they are better then everyone else. It's called cycling. They should be thrilled they're not the only ones on the trail (especially when they get a flat).

Trsnrtr

I normally ride two wheeled lowracers and tend to be performance oriented. However, when I ride my trike, I become Mr. Laidback smoothie. Today, I ran in to a guy on a heavy duty delta trike. He must have weighed near 400#, I kid you not. He was going about 4 miles an hour and barely turning the cranks. As I approached him, I waved and gave him a thumbs up. The guy got the biggest grin on his face that I ever saw as he returned my wave. I got to give the guy credit for trying and sharing trike brotherhood with him was a pleasure.

IanBristol

I actually have to force myself not to slip into competitive mode if I get overtaken. I have to say to myself that I am competing with myself, noone else, there will always be someone faster. It is a psychological boost though, especially when you overtake someone going up hill. Also it depends on the ride, it's easy to smoke someone who is doing a four-hour ride when you yourself know you only have another 20 minutes to ride so have no reason to hold back.

hold4d

I never hold back, I just ride my bike.

Slow but steady...

Echo Gypsy

I don't have a recumbent yet and two months ago I didn't even know a trike existed but it solves all my [touring] problems and so a Trike is what I will buy next.
I sold my car just over a year ago and got this old 71 Schwinn (10 spd) for $30. Sure it's way too big for me, weighs in at 34 pounds (stripped) and is poorly designed but, it got me riding 50 miles a week to 200 a week in about 6 months. It wasn't until I moved closer to work (and a 40 mile bike trail) that I started riding more for pleasure [and pain] then just commuting.
When I first started riding the trail I had a great attitude and really started pushing myself to do better.
I thought the bicycle culture would be like my old days when I rode a motorcycle. We commonly wave to each other when passing because it's a whole culture "we ride because we love it". I thought for sure it would be same in the bicycle world, boy was I wrong. I couldn't believe how different cyclists could be. Someone on a cruiser would smile, someone on a Bent would wave, an older commuter would say hi but those were few and far between. Most of the riders were the spandex wearing kind with their $5000 Carbon Fiber sub 15 pound bikes. In the beginning they thought I was an alien; geesh! the looks they gave me. So what if I'm a chick, good looking, and young , why the f*** did they treat me like I was some purple, two headed alien they'd never seen before. Well fortunately for me (and bad for them), I am a very independent chick who doesn't need acceptance. So I quickly learned who to be polite to and who to ignore plus whenever I came across one of those "snobs" walking their bike because it had a flat, well............. I surely didn't help them!
From everything I've heard about the "typical" Bent rider , I hope they're still polite when a cute chick half their age is riding one too!

BlazingPedals

The 'waving' issue has been discussed ad-nauseum. Bottom line is, just because someone doesn't wave doesn't mean they are snobbish, unfriendly, or anything else. It simply means they prefer to not wave. Cute or not, they probably don't know you and you're not an important part of their world at that moment. Under most circumstances, I'm about 50/50 for waving. But when the traffic gets heavy or I've already waved at 500 cyclists, I stop doing it. Ditto for if I am on a big ride (like Hilly Hundred coming up next week!) Sometimes I am overtaking them so fast that even calling "on your left" is senseless.

Trsnrtr

I assure you that most of the bentriders that I ride with, and most are 55+, will gladly wave and smile at a young lady half our age.